Page 8 of Escaping the King (The Sovrano Crime Family #13)

Carlo

T he knock at the door made my heart jump. Was it them?

Were Giselle and Dani at the front door?

I ran through the house and yanked open the door, hoping to see the two people I loved most in this shitty world.

“Aww, see? I told you we should have warned him we were coming over,” Eve chastised her husband. My face must show my disappointment.

I stepped back and let them in. They were here alone. No kids.

“Any word?” was all Nick asked as he strode inside.

Eve turned around and looked up at me expectantly.

I shut the door. “Nothing.”

After I spun back around, Eve was there, ready to hug me. And I took it. I knew she was worried about her friend. I also knew she loved me. So, she'd be concerned for how I was feeling right now.

“Did you talk to—” I started to say right before my brother opened the front door. “I guess you did,” I mumbled into the top of Eve's head.

Stefan stared at me with a mix of hatred and—I wasn't sure what else.

“I assume that since you're here, you haven't heard from Giselle?”

He shook his head and walked right by us, and into the living room where Nick was standing. They shared a few words, but their voices were too low for me to hear.

“We'll find them.” Eve hugged me tighter until Nick interrupted.

“My dear, come help us, please?” His hand waved her over.

Eve moved away and swayed over to her husband. He slid his arm around her back. “I want you to look around. See if anything's missing.”

She looked up at Nick and gave him a small frown. “Um, okay. Yeah.” She didn't seem very confident. But because Eve was Eve—she did what her husband asked.

I watched her wander around the living room, taking everything in. And then she went into the kitchen and slowly and methodically looked in every drawer and cabinet.

“We'll find them.” Nick walked up to me and stood at my side. I nodded, but I wasn't feeling as confident as him right at this moment.

Eve was thorough in her search. Giselle's kitchen was small. It didn't take her long to look in every cabinet and drawer.

She spun around to us. “All of her sippy cups are gone. Which is really weird. The most Giselle ever packs for an outing is one or two. And I think there were at least eight in here.” She pointed at the cabinet beside the sink.

“Dani's picky about what she drinks out of.

She likes a certain brand and that's it.”

“Fuck,” Stefan said and barged full steam ahead into the kitchen. He opened the cabinet and looked in it himself. “Fuck,” he repeated and slammed the door shut. Then he looked inside the fridge. Another “Fuck.” And he closed the door with force.

He took considerably less time to look through the tiny kitchen. He stopped and bent down under the sink. “Fucking hell.” Then he stood and turned to us. “The cooler's gone. And there's not one sippy cup in the fridge. Giselle always keeps at least one full one in there for Dani.”

Damn.

He was right.

I hadn't even looked in the fridge.

“What would she need the cooler for? The only time they use that is for picnics or when they pack up meals for an excursion.” Right after Eve said that, her shoulders slumped.

And so did mine.

“She's left me.” My voice sounded raspy and desperate to my own ears. I didn't recognize that sound.

“We don't know that,” Nick said with a pat on my shoulder. “We've got eyes and ears all over the place. If she and Dani have taken a small trip—” he leveled his gaze at me, “then we'll find out where they are soon enough.”

Stefan turned around and slammed his hand against one of the cupboards. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he yelled so loudly it made my eardrums vibrate. Eve rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. They hugged and shared a quiet conversation that I couldn't hear.

“Did you guys fight?” Nick asked, and he was lucky I had the amount of respect I did for him. Otherwise, my fist would be in his face right now.

I tilted my head. “Fucked her for nearly two hours last night. Didn't seem like she hated me all that much. Especially after all the orgasms I gave her.”

Nick's mouth shut tight, and he nodded. “Any reason you can think of as to why she'd take off? This doesn't seem like her.”

I shook my head and started pacing the small room. Was there any reason for Giselle to pack up Dani and run off in the middle of the night?

“Christ, she was all over me last night. I mean, we did—all kinds of things. And she enjoyed herself just as much as I did. After that, I crashed. Could hardly keep my eyes open.”

He nodded and appeared to think about that for a minute. Stefan and Eve still held each other in the kitchen—both of them visibly upset.

“Could have been a goodbye?”

His words and the way he said them turned the blood in my veins to ice.

A goodbye.

Was Giselle saying goodbye to me last night?

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I didn't know what to say. And if Giselle had left me—why? Why would she want to go?

I put my ring on her finger. A ring she hadn't taken off since the day I slipped it on.

She and I were actively trying for a family. We hadn't used any kind of birth control. Not once had she asked me to use a condom or asked to go back on birth control.

Every time I came inside of her—the look of bliss on her face was—well, she couldn't fake that look.

“Why would she leave? We were getting married and trying to have a baby. This doesn't make sense.”

Eve let go of Stefan but stayed glued to his side. “Yesterday was an emotional day. Maybe she got—confused? Or felt guilty for breaking up a family?”

I frowned at her and said, “Stefan sticking his dick in the nanny had nothing to do with her. And everything to do with how fucking stupid my brother is.”

Stefan's face instantly grew angry, and he started walking toward us in the living room. “Shut the fuck up,” he shot at me. I wasn't scared of him.

I mean, did he honestly think he could intimidate me?

“This is your fault.” I stepped around Nick and headed to meet him beside the chair. This wasn't the ideal place to fight, but if he insisted on it, I was game.

He sneered at me. “Are you kidding me? I was trying to talk this over with her. What did you do to scare her away last night?”

I took another step closer to him and then Nick stuck himself between us.

“This shit is not helpful. But if you two are determined to beat each other to a pulp, then I'd like to ask you not to do it in front of my wife. If at all possible.” His tone bordered on polite.

We knew the truth, though. Nick Rosetti could rip you a new asshole in no time if given the smallest window.

“He's right!” Eve shouted from the kitchen. “We need all the help we can get. You guys need to work together and bring Giselle and Dani home.” Her voice cracked on the last few words.

Our heads turned to see Eve wiping away a few tears.

Fuck.

I wasn't the only one who was upset.

“Fuck,” Stefan muttered as he retreated and headed back to the kitchen. He pulled Eve into his arms, and she started crying harder.

“Where could they have gone?” Nick asked me in a low voice. Too quiet for Eve to hear.

I shook my head. “I have no fuckin' idea.”

He nodded and stared at his wife and Stefan. “How long ago do you think they left?”

A sharp sword sliced through my gut. “I have no fuckin' idea, man. If I knew that, I wouldn't have let her leave.”

My mind started racing. Christ, how long had they been gone? I obviously hadn't heard a thing. Or I would have gotten up and dragged her back to bed.

“They might have left hours ago. They could be anywhere by now.” I looked at my friend and rubbed the sore, achy part of my chest. Right between my ribs.

“Not anywhere, Carlo. We're narrowing it down. Giselle's in a good, safe car. And we have eyes watching out for her and Dani. Someone will see them eventually.”

The front door opened wide. “What the fuck do you mean, Giselle and Dani are missing?” Asher looked at me, then at Nick. His head snapped directly to his sister. “What the hell's going on?”

Nick started explaining everything to him, saving Eve from the task.

Asher's face grew more and more grim.

“Did you guys fight?” Asher's keen eyes landed on me. Christ, he was quick. Asking the same question that Nick, a seasoned asshole, had just asked me.

Asher's instincts were tight. Nick had honed onto that as soon as he'd met him.

Well, not as soon as they'd met. Asher had been a little prick in the beginning. But that was also how Nick knew he'd make good training material for this life.

“Fuck, no. Last night, we were busy in the bedroom for hours before I passed out from exhaustion. And trust me, she had no complaints.”

Asher's hands were on his hips and he looked at me for a while before saying anything again. “She was trying to tire you out. So you wouldn't wake up for a long time.”

See?

Great fucking instincts.

Although I hated to admit Giselle might have been so enthusiastic last night so I'd go straight to sleep—and wouldn't hear her escaping into the night with Dani.

“Maybe,” I answered grudgingly. “I didn't wake up until this morning. I've got no idea what time they left.”

Asher swallowed and moved his head from side to side cracking his neck. “Probably the second you started snoring.”

Fucker.

Even if he was probably right.

“I'll pack some shit and get on the road.” He dropped his hands to his sides and turned back to the door.

“Where are you going?” Eve asked, concern evident in her voice. “We don't even know which direction they went.”

After his hand reached for the doorknob, he swiveled his head back around to his sister. “There's a lot of ways they could have gone. But only one way they probably went.”

Eve's jaw dropped, and she asked, “Where's that?”

He shrugged slightly. “I'll figure it out. I've got my phone. Keep me in the loop.” And then he opened the door and slipped outside.